JetSetGo is sometimes called the Uber of the Indian skies, a plane and helicopter chartering operation that can make inroads in a region that has lagged in using aviation for personal transportation.

It was founded in 2014 by Kanika Tekriwal, who is still running the outfit, throttle back, at age 28. (She made Forbes' initial Asia Under 30 list last year.) The Bhopal native, who collected an M.B.A. abroad to go with a precocious aero-interest, aims to make private flying in India more transparent, economical and efficient.

She caters to clients ranging from business execs visiting factories in the hinterlands to politicians making five pit-stops a day during elections to tourists who want to land at quaint spots off the commercial airline grid. JetSetGo also offers management services for aircraft owners--taking care of in-flight and on-ground services including safety and maintenance checks.

Revenues at the Delhi company have grown from $64,200 in fiscal 2015 to $3.2 million in fiscal 2016 to a projected $17 million for the year that ended in March. Profits, the company maintains, are at 10% of revenues.

JetSetGo either manages or has exclusive marketing contracts for 16 aircraft--ranging from Falcons to Hawkers to Challengers with 7 to 18 seats. This makes it the largest fleet in India, and the outfit operates anywhere from 4 to 20 flights a day.

But it's a niche operation in an estimated $450 million market. India has about 500 helicopters, turboprops and private jets--compared to nearly 30,000 in the U.S. (It's still among the top markets in Asia.) The regional sector is hobbled by high taxes, stringent regulations and poor infrastructure.

A perception of private jets as luxury toys doesn't help. In February, software giant Infosys' founders were at loggerheads with the board, slamming the use of private jets by chief executive Vishal Sikka for domestic travel. But there are conveniences. Take Harry Dhaul, 62, senior advisor at a power company in Gurgaon. He travels several times a month across the states of Karnakata and Maharashtra as well as in the national capital region and the northeast. "You're able to get your private space to work and to discuss," he says on recent charter flight from Delhi to Bangalore in a Falcon 2000 LX ten-seater, with Forbes Asia along for the ride.

He's scheduled to leave at 8 p.m. That's pushed to 9.30 p.m. and then to 10.30 p.m. No long lines--just relax in a car that takes you right up to the jet. "If I am slightly late in a meeting, I don't have to break my head," explains Dhaul. "The productivity goes up. The stress goes down. And I think at 41,000 feet--with the rarefied air--the brain works better." (Private jets fly especially high.)

The personalized service doesn't hurt. A menu card in his name features a multicourse meal. A steward jumps up to see he gets his iced ginger ale and hot cardamom tea. The Falcon has tasteful wooden panelling, ample leg room, plush leather seats that can be swivelled and a bathroom that's double the size of those in commercial aircraft. Five seats on the jet can be converted into beds for some quick shut-eye, without the occasional nuisances even of business class.

The cost? Hourly rates are $900 for a 6-seater TurboProp, $6,000 for a 14-seater Challenger and $10,500 for an international flight on the Falcon 7X.

Tekriwal is aggregating a fragmented market dominated by dozens of small-time brokers managing one or two aircraft. "With brokers there's no transparency. They have poor reliability, and you have hidden charges," says Puneet Dalmia, managing director at the Dalmia Bharat Group, which incorporates sugar, cement, power and refractories (heat-resistant products used in the cement and steel industries). It has 18 plants in remote areas across India that have limited or no air connectivity. So executives use business jets about half a dozen times a year.

"Compared to a corporation owning a jet, JetSetGo can bring costs down--by leveraging economies of scale and improving capacity utilization," says Dalmia, who personally has a minority stake in JetSetGo. (Tekriwal owns a majority stake along with cofounder Sudheer Perla, whom she met through common friends.)

Meanwhile, competitors like bookmycharters.com are upping their game. It allows passengers to book instantly on its site and says it has 25 to 30 bookings per month.

India has nearly 500 airstrips, but only 80 are serviced by commercial airlines. There’s a lot that needs to happen for the sector to grow.

“We need to put in place enabling provisions for business models like aircraft management and fractional ownership programs to take root in India,” says Jayant Nadkarni, president of a trade group for business aircraft owners. “We also have to reduce and rationalize the present import duty structure.”

Tekriwal recognized the potential in the sector early on.

Born in a traditional Marwari family--her father was running a real estate and chemical business--she got a boarding school education in southern India. Then came Mumbai for her undergrad in economics and a diploma in design. When she was only 17, she worked part-time and helped set up the aviation division for real estate powerhouse Indiabulls.

She then moved to London to get her M.B.A. from Coventry University. While in college she worked with Aerospace Resources in business development and seized on the potential for the charter market in India.

In 2011, she was back in Bhopal and raring to go when she was diagnosed with stage 2 Hodgkins lymphoma. After the battle with cancer, she was back getting JetSetGo aloft. Perla, 38, who has an M.B.A. from the University of Oxford and a background in business restructuring, capital raising and mergers, came aboard. He's based in Dubai and handles strategy, new aircraft acquisitions and fundraising. "Kanika works 18 to 20 hours a day," says Perla, who's exploring India-Gulf operations and the African market. "She's quite a taskmaster."

Tekriwal, who tackles long days with a large flask of coffee, sometimes needs a sweet for her tantrum-throwing guests. Sample these: One client wanted her to fire the air hostess because she'd witnessed a fight between the husband and the wife while on board; another wanted to know why there were four pieces of cucumber in the salad and not three; and a third wasn't happy with the thread count of the bedsheet.

Some nonbusiness charters were better inclined: One young man wanted to fly over Mumbai to propose to his fiancé in midair, another wanted a prewedding photo shoot in Jaipur and a third hosted an 8-year-old's birthday party for six skyborne kids.

Tekriwal brings in trainers from premier hotel chains like Taj and Oberoi to guide cabin and ground staff. But for a young woman, running a company in a male-dominated segment is its own education. "A pilot at an aircraft company I manage told me: 'Go get married. Your place is in the kitchen. I'll pay for your wedding,' " she recalls.